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jenbsbooks 's review for:
Lilac Girls
by Martha Hall Kelly
I'd had this on my list (had the physical book, got the audio and Kindle copy from the library, went primarily with the audio) and it's rated highly ... but while I was in it, I wasn't loving it. Three POVs, Caroline, a socialite in New York, Kasia, a young woman working with the resistance in Poland, and Herta, one of the few female doctors.
The cover is a bit misleading ... it is NOT these three women (although I guess it could be two of them with a different third woman). The switching POV was a little hard to keep up with, as the stories/lives were so different and the shifts so abrupt. Three different narrators in audio, which was needed, as the POVs were 1st person (past tense). Three parts as well, the first starting in 1939, part 2 starting in 1945, part 3 in 1957. I was grateful that the chapters were numbered chronologically and the Kindle copy had the POVs listed (the audio TOC was lacking this, which frustrated me ... the per usual, the physical copy doesn't even deign to provide a table of contents at all). The voices, both the narration, and the writing itself, were very different, which is good in a way, but also added to the choppy feeling. There was some cross-over, but it took a while, and some was quite minimal.
No proFanity, but some difficult/brutal content.
Other words I note: snuck, bespoke, scrum, swath
At almost 500 pages, I felt a little like I was pushing through to the end. I felt like I learned some new things ... there are SO many books about WW2, yet so many perspectives and always some little tidbit I don't think I've heard before. I was thinking probably a 3* rating ... but then, there were the extras.
I really appreciated the author's notes (and I believe she voiced them herself, I didn't recognize any of the three narrators. Thumbs up for that, makes it more personal). What portions were based on real people and places and happenings. The Kindle/text copies had pictures and maps, and discussion questions, so that bumps up the whole experience for me.
While this is listed first in a series/trilogy, it looks like the other books are only loosely connected, and set BEFORE this one. I had not planned on reading a sequel, but MAY look into these others, we'll see.
The cover is a bit misleading ... it is NOT these three women (although I guess it could be two of them with a different third woman). The switching POV was a little hard to keep up with, as the stories/lives were so different and the shifts so abrupt. Three different narrators in audio, which was needed, as the POVs were 1st person (past tense). Three parts as well, the first starting in 1939, part 2 starting in 1945, part 3 in 1957. I was grateful that the chapters were numbered chronologically and the Kindle copy had the POVs listed (the audio TOC was lacking this, which frustrated me ... the per usual, the physical copy doesn't even deign to provide a table of contents at all). The voices, both the narration, and the writing itself, were very different, which is good in a way, but also added to the choppy feeling. There was some cross-over, but it took a while, and some was quite minimal.
No proFanity, but some difficult/brutal content.
Other words I note: snuck, bespoke, scrum, swath
At almost 500 pages, I felt a little like I was pushing through to the end. I felt like I learned some new things ... there are SO many books about WW2, yet so many perspectives and always some little tidbit I don't think I've heard before. I was thinking probably a 3* rating ... but then, there were the extras.
I really appreciated the author's notes (and I believe she voiced them herself, I didn't recognize any of the three narrators. Thumbs up for that, makes it more personal). What portions were based on real people and places and happenings. The Kindle/text copies had pictures and maps, and discussion questions, so that bumps up the whole experience for me.
While this is listed first in a series/trilogy, it looks like the other books are only loosely connected, and set BEFORE this one. I had not planned on reading a sequel, but MAY look into these others, we'll see.